Mimi leapt into the air. "YAAAAY!!!" It was great being a cheerleader! It was great being the girlfriend of the hottest guy in school! Life was just great! The rest of the squad crowded around her. "That was great, Mimi!" "No one else can do that jump!" "I bet next year you'll be captain of the squad!" She smiled, and laughed. "Oh, you guys, you're just saying that." "No, really, Mimi," one girl said. "Mimi!" a voice called from across the soccer field. "Excuse me, girls," Mimi said. "My boyfriend calls." The girls giggled and spread out of her path. Mimi ran over to him. "Matt." She welcomed his embrace. He leaned down and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "Mimi, you wanna go out tonight?" "Pick me up at six," she said. "If that works..." "Of course." He stroked her light brown hair, and then let a finger trail down her cheekbone until it was under her chin. He lifted her face with it and kissed her again. She blushed. "Maaaaatt...all the girls are watching..." He frowned. "Sorry. I'll be there, then." "See you later."

After her last class, Mimi lingered at her locker.He was staring at her again. She could see him in the mirror tacked to the back of her locker. She pretended to be shuffling papers, but she was just curious as to how long he would stand there in front of his locker watching her. Finally she turned around, and pretended she hadn't noticed him. "Oh! Hi, Joe! Whatcha up to?" He blushed. "Uh, nothing, just on my way out." He turned and fled from her piercing stare. Mimi sighed. Being pretty and popular had its downs, too. Why does he have to get a crush on me now? Why not a month ago, before Matt asked me out? When I could have liked him back? Mimi hated that feeling. Before Matt, she'd had a crush on Joe, but nothing that she tried to make him notice her had worked. Now that she was taken (and very jealously defended), he fell for her. Matt had asked her out on a date the month before, and neither one of them had expected anything to come of it. They'd seen a romantic movie, then went to a nearby park with a little brook flowing through it. Mimi said it looked like a scene out of the movie, Matt said she resembled the heroine, and before either one knew what the other was thinking, they were kissing. Then Matt asked her to be his girlfriend, and she'd accepted. She'd buried her hidden feelings for Joe even deeper. But just because they were hidden did not mean they were weak. Sometimes, when Matt kissed her, she tried to imagine what it would be like if it was Joe. She'd pictured herself dating Joe in college. She clung to memories of things he'd done for her in the DigiWorld--when she had left the group and he'd come with because it wasn't safe for her to be alone. Now, as Matt's girlfriend, she tried to convince herself that she no longer felt that way about him. But sometimes, at night, when she laid awake, she knew that she was living a lie. No one suspected, not even her best friend, Sora, but she had to live with herself and it was driving her crazy.

Joe opened the door of his car. It was old, it was clunky, and it rattled, but it was cheap on gas and ran okay. And the air conditioning worked, so he put up with the rest of it. But today, he didn't notice. He was angry with himself. Why didn't I make a move when I had the chance? No. I had to wait until Matt did. Now if I try anything, he'll kill me! He had no one to blame but himself. And, of course, now that Mimi had Matt, she could never like him, even a little. What do I have that Matt can't offer? What do I have, period? He managed to keep his anger out of his driving, but when he got home he stomped through the apartment and slammed the door to his room, plopping down onto his bed. Gomamon was smart enough to be quiet until Joe cooled off a bit. Unfortunately, Joe shared a room. Jim--not as smart as Gomamon--came in and started teasing him. "Something get you upset? What? You make an A minus on a test or something? Afraid you'll have to go to Japan's number two college?" "Oh shut up." "Oh, so it wasn't a test. Was it a teacher? A bully? A girrrrrlllll...?" "I SAID SHUT UP!" "Ah-ha! It's a girl!" "You sound like someone had a baby," Joe said, rolling over onto his stomach and covering his head with a pillow. Jim ignored the attempted insult. "So, who is she? Do I know her?" "Will you go away if I tell you?" Joe muttered through the pillow. "Maybe." "She's DigiDestined and she's taken. That's why I'm upset. Now will you please get off my case?" "Oh, it's that Mimi chick, huh? The cheerleader?" "GO AWAYYYYY!"

Matt came and got Mimi and they walked to the cinema. They paid little attention to the movie, too wrapped up in each other to notice much else. Still, Mimi was unsure of it all. Seeing Joe today had stirred something in her conscience, and she wondered if maybe she should say something about it to Matt. She didn't want to break up with him, though. She was afraid of what he might do to Joe if she did.This is driving me insane! she screamed to herself, even as he was placing his lips on hers. What's wrong with me? I don't know what to do! Matt didn't seem to notice anything was amiss. Mimi was grateful for that. After the movie, they had dinner at one of Matt's favorite places, a fast-food joint with an arcade. Mimi got full soon and they spent a little bit of time competing each other at the video games. He took her home and they shared a goodnight kiss. She went inside quickly before he could say anything.

Joe stared up at the moon. "What's the matter, Joe?" Gomamon asked. "It's nothing. Go to sleep." "Jim isn't home from his date yet, and his curfew is the same as my bedtime. Therefore, I don't have to go to sleep." "Well, I wish you would anyway." Gomamon frowned. "Aww, come on, Joe, tell me what's bothering you. Remember, we're friends for life." Joe smiled and ruffled Gomamon's mohawk. "I don't know if you would understand. Have you ever fallen in love before?" "Oh, it's a girl," Gomamon said, understandingly and mischievously. "Yeah. Mimi." "I told you that you should have asked her out while you had the chance," Gomamon reminded him. "I know. For once, you were right." Gomamon smiled. "Well, that was worth it just to hear you say that!" Joe laid down, facing away from Gomamon. Gomamon began poking him. "I'm trying to sleep," Joe informed him. "I'm trying to keep you awake." Joe sighed. How in the world did anyone think that Gomamon and I made such a good pair?

The next day after school, Matt walked Mimi home. "I'd take you out tonight," he'd said, "But Mom called and T.K. wants me to come and stay overnight with him. You know." On the way, they passed a telephone pole with a poster tacked to it that caught Mimi's eye. "Hey, Matt, look at this! The fair is coming up!" Matt paused to look over the poster. "Rides, concessions, games...sounds like fun, but look at the date." Mimi did. "April 21st...what about it?" "That's this weekend. I won't be here to take you, remember?" "Oh, that's right...you and T.K. are going off to see your grandmother..." "Yeah. Sorry, Mimi. But why don't you call Sora and some of your other friends and go? I hate to think of you moping at home alone when you could be having a good time. I'll be missing you as it is..." Matt took her arm and led her away from the poster. "Go have a good time so I don't feel so bad." She laughed. "Well, Matt, if you really want me to..." "Please?" "Okay. I'll go with some friends."

Matt missed school Friday because he was gone, so Mimi had to tell all the kids where he was. By noon it was common knowledge as to his whereabouts. Mimi got all her friends together at lunch and tried to figure out who was going to the fair on what nights, and who was going with a boyfriend and whatnot. Finally they figured out that Sora, Tai, Kari, Izzy, and a few other kids would be there that night. After school was over, Joe came to Mimi's locker. "I hear Matt's out of town." "Yeah. He'll be getting back late Sunday night. Say, are you going to the fair?" "Fair?" Joe thought for a minute, he'd seen a few posters for it around town. "Is that today?" "Friday through Sunday. Me and a few of my friends are going. You could come along, too." "Do I know any of them?" "I should hope so. Tai, Sora, Izzy, and Kari are going, and two or three of my other friends." "Well..." Joe thought for a minute. Knowing he had a severe lack of both homework and plans that night, he decided it couldn't hurt anything. "Okay. Where are we meeting?" "We're going to meet at the gate at five, so we have plenty of time to ride all the rides. Long lines, you know." Joe paused. Oh boy...rides...don't eat anything before you go and you'll be all right... He decided it was worth the risk. "Okay. See you there."

Mimi chatted with her friends, Carry and Missy, and Missy's boyfriend Jack, until Tai, Sora, and Kari all showed up. After a few minutes Izzy got there, too. "Isn't this everyone?" Tai asked. "No," Mimi said, "I was talking to Joe earlier and I invited him to come, too." "It would figure that he'd be the last one to show up," Sora said. They didn't have to wait very long, though. Joe arrived, although the ones that knew him were surprised to see him in jeans and a black t-shirt. "Hey, everyone. Sorry I'm late, but my brother wouldn't drive me, so I had to take the train. Let's go!" And go they did. Missy and Jack soon left the group, and Tai quickly convinced Izzy to watch Kari so he and Sora could go off on their own, too. Carry's mother had entered a few things down in the vegetable and cake competitions that attract grown-ups to the fair, so she went off to see if her mother had won anything. "Izzzzzyyy..." Kari begged. "What is it, Kari?" "I wanna ride the carousel..." "Well..." "I want to ride the Ferris wheel," Mimi said. "I wanna ride that too, but I wanna ride the carousel first," Kari said. Joe quickly suggested a game plan. "Well, Izzy, you go with Kari and wait for her, and since they won't let a person on the Ferris wheel alone, I'll go ride it with Mimi." Izzy nodded. "Meet you at the Ferris wheel in fifteen minutes." Joe nodded in return, and quickly took Mimi's arm and led her off. The Ferris wheel line was short and they got there just as they were unloading one set of people and loading another. They got on right away. Mimi cheered as they got higher and higher, and Joe concluded that it wasn't so bad on an empty stomach.I hope Matt never finds out about this. We were a group of kids, and suddenly me and Mimi are alone, just like Tai and Sora, and her other friends! Joe thought. Watch it, Mimi. Better not enjoy yourself too much. You belong to Matt, remember? Mimi stopped cheering and sighed. "What's the matter, Mimi?" Joe asked, concerned. "Oh, nothing...I guess I just miss Matt." Liar! "Oh." Joe closed his eyes, and settled deeper into the seat. He pushed his glasses up. Of course it would be that. Not only can you not have her, it has to be hard on you, too. You're high up in a Ferris wheel, the ride most couples like to ride, where no one can see you kiss her like you want to, like your heart is telling you, but your mind is telling you that you better not or you'll end up as good as dead by Matt's hand! "Hey, there's Tai and Sora!" Mimi cried. "Down there, by that basketball booth." She pointed and Joe spotted them. "Looks like Tai won his girlfriend a teddy bear." "Yeah, sure does." Mimi leaned over the edge of the seat and looked at the skyline. "It's so beautiful."Just like you. "Hey, Mimi, what are we doing next?" "I was thinking we could challenge Izzy and Kari to the bumper cars..." "Sounds like fun..." Izzy and Kari rose to the challenge, and since Tai and Sora showed up there at the same time, they joined in too. Kari was big enough for her own car, and she kept running into Izzy and Tai. "Take that!" Apparently she didn't care for the fact that her brother had gone off and left her. Sora got clogged in between a bunch of other cars for most of the time, Izzy could hardly go anywhere because of Kari, and Tai was too busy trying to get away from her to hit anyone else intentionally. Mimi had trouble steering, but Joe held his own, and when the ride was over, they all declared him the winner. Tai and Sora left again, so Joe, Mimi, Kari, and Izzy rode a few other rides. Finally, Kari dragged Izzy off to play some games, and Joe and Mimi were alone again. "Tilt-a-Whirl?" she asked.Hey, why not? You'll always remember this night, if nothing else, so you may as well throw caution to the winds... "I've been around Gomamon too long. Let's go!" They had to wait in line a little longer, but finally got on. "Okay," Mimi told him, "You've got to turn the wheel sharp and lean your weight into it or there's no point in even getting on." "Okay. I think I can manage that..." Joe said. The ride began, and they turned the wheel. Mimi slid right into Joe--thud. She gasped a little and tried to move out of his way, but he told her, "It's okay." She smiled and stayed securely in her spot. After it was over, he helped her out, and they looked around as to what to do next. "Hey..." Mimi said, looking in one direction. "There's a dart booth over there, you know, one where if you pop the right balloons you get a prize...I bet you're good at that." "Well, I..." Joe didn't have time to disagree before she took his hand and dragged him over. The woman behind the counter gave him five darts. He aimed carefully and with three darts had his choice of any of the prizes in the booth. "What do you want, Mimi?" "Me? But you're the one who..." "I know. But I don't have any use for any of this stuff, and it was your idea." "Well, okay..." Mimi chose a big, pink stuffed bunnyrabbit. "I'll always think of you when I see this!" she told him. As they walked away from the booth, her words pricked his conscience. "Won't Matt be jealous?" She blushed. "Oh. Yeah. Well...don't worry about it. I won't let him come after you or anything like that." He grabbed her elbow. "I wasn't worried about that, you know." She turned to face him, but he left his hand where it was. "I know. I...I wasn't either. Let's...let's just go on and find Sora...or Carrie...or Missy. Before...you know..." Mimi tore herself from his grasp and whirled around to go find the others. "Know what?" Mimi stopped. I can't tell him! She turned, again, to face him. Her words came before she could stop them. "Before...I...we...get carried away...I belong to Matt..." She wiped a tear and ran off to find one of the others, leaving him standing alone in the midst of the crowd.

In a matter of minutes she came across Sora and Tai, who were waiting on a funnel cake. "Mind if I join you?" "Not at all," Sora said. "Where's Joe?" Mimi looked around innocently. "I must have lost him. We'll catch up to him later." "Not much later. It's almost time for everyone to gather at the gate," Tai said, checking the clock on his digivice. "Well, he'll be there."

And he was. He'd gone straight there and waited on everyone. All the kids had rides waiting for them except Mimi, who lived nearby and had walked, and Joe, who lived across town. "I'll walk you to your house. It's not that far out of my way to the train station, and there's no hurry. I'll have to wait as it is." Mimi consented to that much. At the front of her apartment building, he took her hands in his. "I had a good time tonight, Mimi. Better than you think." "No. No. I know exactly what you mean, Joe. But I really wish I didn't. I belong to Matt now. Why didn't you say something before?" There. They'd done it. Both of them confessed that they knew how the other felt. "I don't know." Tears welled up in Mimi's eyes. Joe felt something in that moment, a nudging inside of him. He moved his hands from hers and placed them on her shoulders, and bent down and kissed her impulsively. The kiss was long, and hard, and sweet. Joe broke it, looked her in her teary eyes, and turned away and fled. She stood out on the sidewalk for a long time after he left. She leaned against the wall of the building and thought about it. Joe's kiss was...so...different from Matt's kisses. At first, Matt's kisses had made her feel happy that someone liked her enough to do that, but something had changed and they didn't affect her at all any more. But, in Joe's single kiss, there was more emotion than in all of Matt's combined. Mimi had felt his ardor, his love, his devotion to her in that one simple action.And I responded! I kissed him back! What are you going to do? You're both going to be miserable. Mimi went inside and decided that she would wait and see what happened when she saw Matt on Monday. Maybe the whole thing with Joe would just all blow over. But, deep in her heart, she knew better.

It started storming that night and continued all through the weekend. It was still wet on Monday morning. Mimi waited for Matt at her locker. Sure enough, he got there and greeted her with a peck on the lips. It was flat. There was no emotion behind it. "Miss me?" he asked. "Hi, Matt. I had a really bad weekend." "You missed me that bad?" "I meant that I had a lot of stuff happen." Mimi was in no mood to reassure him of love she didn't feel so that he would shower her with kisses she didn't want. "I think I was too busy to miss you." Too busy moping over Joe. Speaking of the devil, Joe came down the hall just then. Things are back to normal. The magic has left me again. Matt's back hovering over Mimi. He noticed the bored look on her face. She looks like she's irritated. Irritated wasn't even the beginning of it. I wish Matt would just get out of my face. The first bell rang, and Matt had to head in the opposite direction of Mimi. She was alone to ponder her last thought. Get out of my face. If I truly feel that way about Matt, why am I going out with him? He doesn't love me, not real love, not even close compared to what Joe feels. I don't like him, I don't feel for him. I love Joe. Matt and I have so little in common. Our relationship was going to end after our first date. I want it to end now. I want to be free to love Joe like he deserves. I feel trapped in my relationship with Matt. I want it to end. I want to break up with Matt. Mimi left her locker, now knowing what she had to do. And she was going to do it as soon as she got the chance.

It was lunchtime before Mimi got the time to sit down with Matt. Matt was more than happy to. "I have something to ask you about, too," Matt told her. They sat alone, at a picnic table on the roof. It was still sprinkling a bit so most kids opted to stay inside. "Matt, I'm not sure how to tell you this. I've never really had to do this before. Matt, I think our relationship is kind of weak. I feel trapped. We were only going to go on one date, and I think that's because we both knew we couldn't keep up a relationship. I don't mean to hurt you, but I just don't think we were cut out for each other." Matt frowned. "Are you saying..." "Yes. Yes, I am. I think it would be best for both of us if we broke up." Matt leaned back, and looked at her. "Does this have anything to do with what I've heard about how you spent Friday night? The rumors I've heard say that you went with a group of friends that included Joe, and when everyone went their separate ways, you were with him." Mimi hung her head. "I was going to tell you anyway. But nothing happened at the fair, Matt. He won me another stuffed animal, that's all. It wasn't until after the fair that we got a chance to really talk." "And?" "And we both have...feelings...for one another...but I pushed him away because I belong to you. But this isn't fair to either of us, Matt. I can't ever love you when I love Joe, and you deserve to have a girl who cares as much about you as you do her. I know you don't love me, not really love me." Matt nodded. "I just wanted to know if it was true. I think you're right. We're just not right for each other. I won't be angry if you and Joe get together now. I think it says a lot about you and your character that you pushed him away until you had a chance to talk to me. Friends?" He stuck out his hand. "Thank you, Matt. Friends." They shook on it. "See you around." Matt took his lunch and went downstairs, inside, probably to tell his friends. Mimi ate alone, in silence. It had been a long time since she had eaten without a crowd of girls from the popular clique around her. When she finished, she merely sat, looking out over what little view the school roof offered, thinking about her decision.I am so glad he wasn't upset, was her main thought. That made it so much easier. She heard footsteps on the stairwell. The door from inside opened, and there stood Joe. "Mimi?" he asked. "Yes?" He approached, and sat across from her. "I saw Matt come downstairs, alone...and I wondered if he was mad at you about Friday night..." "Oh, that? No. We talked it out. And he's not upset with you, either." "Oh. Okay...that's good..." Joe nodded absently. Mimi could no longer contain her excitement. "Joe, Matt and I broke up." Joe blinked. His glasses fell and he had to push them up. "You...broke up?" "Yes, that's right. We agreed that we're not right for each other. Our relationship had no depth, no real meaning. We didn't care for each other...in the way that I...care about you." Joe blinked again. "Are you telling me...that you broke up with Matt Ishida...to go out with...me?" Mimi laughed at his shock. "Something like that." Joe just stared. "But...but...but...I...he...he's..." "I know that most girls wouldn't. But I don't care about him, Joe. There's no love there. I can't stay in that kind of relationship, especially when there's you." Joe swallowed the lump in his throat. "Well, then, Mimi...would you like to...be my girlfriend?" Mimi got up from the table and sat on the other side, next to him. She threw her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. "You bet!"